Rest in Queens
by twopence-pauper
Summary: New York is a scary place and the scariest place to live is the borough of Queens. None knew this better than Matthias Richardson or Rip as he was better known as. This is his backstory of who he was before he became leader of Queens and Spot's mortal enemy and after he fled his borough. Rated T for violence and just in case. SpotxOC pairing. Special credits to Air. :)
1. A Fine Life (Or Is It?)

_**Disclamer:** _I don't own Newsies or the characters Ringer, Jeb, Chain, the Boss, and O'Shea. The rights belong to Disney and Air who let me use her characters for my story. :) I just own Rip/Matthias, Sadie/Key, and Rip's family. X3

**A/N: **This story is a sort of backstory and current story. Rip is a character I made for the forum. I hope you enjoy this story. X3 Please go easy on me as this is my first Newsies fanfic.

* * *

_**Prologue**_

He held his knees tightly against his chest. He felt like child and not the nineteen year-old man he was. He leaned his head against the alley wall and stared up at the sky. Just his luck... it was going to snow again. Even though the sky was dark and it was hard to tell what was cloud and what was sky, Rip knew it was going to snow. You could feel and smell it in the air. Ringer was probably expecting him to come into their room in any minute. He sighed and rubbed his bare arms. She'd be so worried when he didn't show up the next day... maybe she'd come to look for him. But no, he didn't want her to come find him. He didn't want her to see how bad he looked. Even he didn't know how bad he was. He glanced down at his leg. The blood was already seeping through his makeshift bandage he had made with his shirt. How deep had the knife gone? Rip winced as he shifted some. Would anybody find him he wondered? Jeb wouldn't... the guy probably thought he was dead or going to be dead soon. Why had the guy suddenly turn on him like that? Did Jeb really hate him that much? And O'Malley... how did he get involved with them all the sudden? Maybe it wasn't so surprising to have that man around. He never cared for Rip and was probably hoping he was dead right now. And O'Shea? The man was probably busy. He hadn't come as backup, though Rip wished he had. Things might have been different. His Boss... no, he wouldn't care. The only person who really cared about him now was Ringer. And he, he didn't want to see her. Not like this.

He clenched his eyes shut. If she saw him... she'd know what happened. She'd know everything. And he didn't want her to. He didn't want to hurt her. This would hurt her... and what if, she wouldn't forgive him? That thought hurt him more than the thought of her being hurt because of what had happened. He would die if she never forgave him. She... she was his everything. She saved him, gave him hope, gave him something... something he could never explain but needed.

Ringer was his little sister. He didn't want to lose her, the last thing that he had to call his own.

He couldn't lost that. He couldn't... but she seemed to be drifting away as his consciousness started to do the same.

"A-Ali..." he whispered.

"Hey! Over here! I found somethin'!"

Rip pried one eye open.

Voices... Whose voices?

"A body! Seems like that report was right!"

Report?!

Rip tried to pry his other eye open as he struggled to get onto his feet.

The bulls... it was the bulls.

He couldn't get caught. Not again... They wouldn't go easy on him this time. He was an adult now and he already had a record on him. There'd be no escape for him now.

He had to get away now.

He stumbled some as he managed to stand. He felt pain everywhere as he tried to drag himself further into the alley way. He had to get away... before the bulls came. He needed to see Ringer again, even if he looked this way. If the bulls were going to take him away, he needed to see her one last time. His head spun as he continued to limp along. He couldn't tell if the bulls were getting close to him or not. His ears were numb with cold along with his bare torso. He was a mess and he knew it. But, but... he had to keep moving. For Ringer. For Key.

He tripped over a crate and fell face-first into the snow.

"Hey I heard something over there!"

Rip tensed and tried to get back onto his feet, but his body, it wasn't working. He was too tired. There was too much pain.

"I found someone!"

He clenched his fist weakly.

No. No, no, no!

It wasn't suppose to happen like this. It wasn't suppose to happen like this! The bulls... they weren't suppose to find him.

He pounded his fist against the snow.

"A-Ali."

* * *

**Chapter One: A Fine Life (Or Is It?)**

Matthias wiped the sweat off his brow as he came out of the factory. It had been a hard day of work for the young yet rather tall eight year-old boy. Factory work was difficult, but Matthias didn't mind so much. It was nice to know he was able to pool in some money to help his family, and the extra money he was given himself wasn't too bad either. He smiled to himself as he hurried home. Extra money. He'd been saving it up for something very special. He picked up his pace as he got closer to his home.

"Matthias, Matthias!" a voice cried out happily as he stepped into his house.

A young girl wrapped her arms around her cousin. She looked up at him with her huge hazel eyes. "Matthias!"

He couldn't help but smile at her as he gave her a gentle squeeze and picked her up. "Hey, Sadie. How was your day wit' Mutti?"

Sadie smiled up at him. "Good! How are you?"

He set her down and mussed up her hair some. "Fine, fine." He glanced around the small house as he entered the kitchen area. "Is... is he home yet?"

Sadie's smile faded as she started fiddling with her fingers. "No..."

"Ah, I see," he murmured and put on an apron. "What's Mutti doin'?" he asked, changing the subject as he sensed his cousin's uneasiness.

Sadie brightened some. "She's fixin' Daisy for me."

Matthias raised an eyebrow. "Is she?"

He was happy for Sadie that the doll was getting fixed, but he was worried about his mother. She had been rather sick the past few days, which was why he was getting ready to make dinner.

"Did she get any rest today?" he asked as he got started the fire in the oven.

Sadie bobbed her head up and down quickly. "Mhmm. She took a nap wit' me earlier taday an' she stayed in bed for most of the day."

Matthias nodded in relief.

Good, good. He didn't want his mother pushing herself. She needed to rest and keep up her strength so she would be well again.

"Can I help?" Sadie asked trying to peer over the oven.

"Ah, no, no," Matthias scolded softly and picked her up. "Jus' um, jus' go over ta Mutti an' tell 'er I'm home an' that I'm makin' dinner, okay?"

Sadie wrinkled her nose some. "I wanted ta help..."

He smiled and tweaked her nose before setting her back down by the kitchen door. "You can help me by doin' as I jus' asked."

She made a face then smiled up at him. "Okay."

He chuckled softly as he watched his cousin skip away to the bedroom area of the house. Sadie... she was so cute. He was glad to have her around. Being an only child had been lonely. It was nice to have someone to look out for and play with.

"Ah... there you are. Wonderin' when'd you be comin' in here."

A chill ran down Matthias' spine as he turned to face his father.

"Ah... ah. I jus' came in," he mumbled, feeling rather small by his enormous father.

His father wasn't just tall, he was very muscular which made him very large and scary. It came from his line of work, or that's what Matthias assumed.

"Whatcha doin' wit' that apron on, boy?"

"Ah this?" Matthias glanced down at himself. "I was makin' dinner."

"Dinner? That's your mother's job."

Matthias scowled up at his father. "Mutti's not feelin' well."

"Again?" his father growled. "Tell that little brat that your mother needs ta be makin' dinner."

"Mutti's sick!"

His father frowned down at him. "You talkin' back ta me, boy?"

Matthias swallowed nervously. "Ah... n-no."

His father grunted. "Come on." He grabbed Matthias roughly by the arm. "It's time for your next lesson. Eh, Rip?"

Matthias paled some. "B-but... dinner."

His father gave him an eerie smirk and ignored his comment as he dragged the young boy away into the back alley of the house to teach him his 'lesson.'

* * *

"Matthias!"

Sadie cocked her head some as she entered the empty kitchen. Where did he go? Her small brow furrowed some at the open back door. Did he go outside?

"Matthias? Matthias!" she called out as she entered the back alley. "Matthias!"

She found herself nibbling at her thumbnail. Where was he? She was getting scared. The back alley was scary.

"M-Matthias?" she managed to continue to call out despite being scared. "M-Matthias!"

She paused as she heard a bit of scuffling further into the alleyway. She bit down on her thumb. It was so dark back there. Even though they were the last house on their street, the alleyway stretched out a bit further into a dead end. It was really scary. Extremely scary for Sadie when she passed by the kitchen door at night. She hated the sounds of scuffling and scratching at night.

But now, it wasn't dark... and Matthias could be back there.

Sadie tried her best to put on a brace face as she slowly made her way towards the dead end alley.

"M-Matthias?"

"Sadie?!"

She brightened some as she heard her cousin's voice. "Matthias!"

"Sadie! Don't-"

She stopped, frowning at the sudden silence. Don't? Don't what? What was Matthias trying to s-

"AAAAAHHH!" Sadie screamed as she found herself being picked up. She clenched her eyes shut, afraid of what would happen next.

"What have we here?"

"Put her down!" Matthias's voice demanded.

Sadie nervously cracked one eye open then gasped as she saw Matthias' father then Matthias. What was going on back here? Why did Matthias have a bruise on his face? Why were there knives on the ground?

"Don't back talk ta me, boy!" his father growled and gave Sadie a squeeze causing her to cry out in pain.

"Sadie!" Matthias yelled.

He watched her frantically, not liking the way his father was holding her. It was like... he was trying o squeeze her life away.

Matthias clenched his fists tightly, rage starting to burn inside him. His father was cruel and evil. He shouldn't be picking on little girls and especially not Sadie.

The flash of the sun's rays hitting the knives beside him caught his eye. A slight smirk crossed his face as he grabbed one. He'd show him. He'd show his dad.

Sadie's eyes widened as she looked back down at her cousin. He didn't look right... He didn't look right at all, and it wasn't just the knife in his hand. Something was wrong.

"Matthias!" she screamed and wiggled in her uncle's grip. "Matthias, Matthias, Matthiiiiiiiiiiiias!"

*Thwump!*

Sadie screamed again as she felt herself falling.

"Sadie!" Matthias ran and caught her in his arms. "Sadie... Oh, Sadie," he murmured, forgetting his father was right behind him, looming over him with a horrible, twisted smirk on his face despite the knife sticking out of his wrist.

"M-Matthias?" Sadie asked, still a bit shaken from falling. "Wh-what's goin' on?"

Matthias bit his lip. "Ummm. Noth-"

His father suddenly let out a cruel laugh. "Heh, heh... Who would 'ave thought it?"

Matthias instinctively wrapped his arms more tightly around Sadie.

His father gave him a slap on the back. "You've got promise after all." He chuckled some. "Yes, lots of promise, boy."

Sadie bit her lip and glanced at Matthias nervously. "W-what's he talkin' 'bout?"

"Shh shh," he shushed her.

His father gave them another crooked smirk. "Good job, taday, Rip. Go along an' git your dinner." He chuckled again and seemed to be talking to himself. "What promise... raisin' up a monster."

Matthias's eyebrow twitched slightly as he slowly made his way back towards the house.

"M-Matthias?"

"Y-yeah?" he answered shakily.

"What did he mean by that?"

"Mean by what?" he asked as he opened the back door.

"Raisin' up a monster?"

Matthias breathed in sharply and quickly set Sadie down. "It's nothin' Sadie. He was jus' talkin' ta himself. Now go check on Mutti again... she's probably getting' worried."

Sadie pursed her lips some but did as he asked.

He sighed as she ran off. For a four year old she was observant... too observant. It was rather unfortunate for him. Now she would start asking more questions... find out things that she didn't need to know. He sighed again as he started working on dinner again. His face was throbbing some, but he would worry about that after dinner was finished. He glanced at the back door, wondering if his father would return for dinner or just go out for a drink.

A fine life... not really, Matthias thought. It might have been at one time but not so much any more.

_Raisin' a monster._

He shook his head some. His father... wasn't, couldn't be meaning him, could he?


	2. Your Keys

**Chapter Two: Your Keys**

Matthias was rather tired as he finished setting up dinner. He had been in a rather paranoid mood. What if his father returned? And had he really thrown a knife at him? Had that really been blood? He shook his head some. No, there was no way... But then how had he gotten away?

No, no... he mustn't think about that. He'd hear those words again.

"Matthias? Dear?"

He looked up to see his mother peeking in the kitchen with a worried expression.

"Mutti!" He hurried over to his mother's side. "Mutti... you shouldn't be out of bed. I got everythin' ready. I was just about to bring you your food."

She gave him a weak smile and patted his head. "I-it's all right darling. I could use a little bit of exercise."

Sadie was peeking around his mother as she nodded in agreement.

"But Mutti... the baby," Matthias whispered, hugging his mother some and pressing his hand gently against her tummy. The wiggling feeling of the child inside never ceased to amaze him.

"The baby will be fine. Now, you," she looked down at her son. "You don't need to be pushing yourself so much. I'm doing just fine." Her weak smile widened slightly. "Your cousin is taking good care of me."

Sadie grinned up at Matthias. "Yup!"

Matthias couldn't help but smile at his cousin then at his mother.

"Th-thanks," he said quietly, giving Sadie a soft ruffling to her hair. "Let's get some dinner, hmm?"

Sadie nodded as she followed after her cousin. She glanced over at her aunt.

"Go back to bed, Aunt Liesel, or Matthias will worry."

Liesal laughed softly. "All right... I'll go back."

Sadie nodded approvingly. She wanted to do her best to make sure her favorite people were happy and well. They were very special to her. They were her only family... and with Matthias getting more worried as time went on, Sadie wanted to do something, anything to make him happy.

Dinner was quiet. Too quiet for anyone's taste, but no one really wanted to break the silence to risk the chance of making things worse.

Liesel sighed softly as she finished her food and glanced at the two children at the table. It made things so hard... being bed-ridden for most of the day. She wasn't able to be there for them as much as she wanted to. It pained her. She really hated seeing that worried look on her son's face and not to mention that determined look on her niece's face. The two were pushing themselves... for each other and for her. She hated it, because she couldn't do much to help.

"Mutti?"

Liesel quickly pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Yes, dear?"

"I just wanted ta get your plates."

"Ah yes..." she murmured handing over her plates. She watched the children silently as they washed the plates. It was another sad reminder of how fast they were having to grow up these days. It was also a sad reminder of what she was missing. A small part of their lives, but important to her, so very important to her. Every moment she got with them was so very special to her... so very special to her. A small smile crept on her face as Matthias created a bubble in his hands for Sadie.

Ah... so sweet. The two got along so well. And soon, she smiled softly as she patted her stomach, there would be another addition. There would be small bit of happiness added into their house. She sighed inwardly. They really could use a small of sunshine these days. With Kurt... then Matthias pushing himself so hard. She patted her stomach once more. Soon, very soon.

* * *

Rip tossed and turned on his cot, unable to fall asleep. He was a bit jealous to see his cousin curled up next to his mother... sleeping peacefully. He sighed quietly and stared up at the ceiling. He just couldn't sleep! There were too many things on his mind. His dad for one... What would the man do to him the next day when he came back from work? Then there was his mother. He was dreadfully worried about her. She hadn't been feeling too well and she was with child. Her pregnancy had him on his toes. He had to work harder to make sure money came in for them. His father wasn't really helping by going out for a drink every so "often." And with his mother in bed most of the time, she wasn't able to work as much. He really didn't want her working at all. He was worried about a repeat like with his aunt Sascha.

His aunt had passed away shortly after having Sadie. It had been an awful night... Matthias had been of now help as a four-year old boy. All he could do was sit in the kitchen and listen to the awful screams and cries from inside the bedroom.

He scowled up at the ceiling. Life had been cruel... Sadie was without a mother and father. He at least had both even if one wasn't so good to him.

This was why he worked so hard. He had to make money so his mother would stay well and give birth to a healthy baby and be well herself. His mother had to be strong. If he lost her... what would happen to him? His cousin? His little sibling? Who would protect them from his father?

Well obviously he would do his best, but still! There was only so much an eight-year old could do. And not to mention... if she were to die, who would comfort him? (And his sibling and cousin of course.) If she were to die...

Matthias shook his head as he shifted some on his cot.

No, no, no. Mutti wouldn't die. He would work very hard and provide for his family at all costs. He just had to.

And with those thoughts and some gentle humming, he began to drift off to sleep.

Unknown to him, his mother had sensed his worry and discomfort and had silently slipped out of her bed to check up on him. She smiled softly but sadly as noted her boy's now peaceful face.

"_Schlaf mein litte ein. _(Sleep my little one)," she whispered, stroking his hair some. "Rest... Matthias."

Despite being on bed rest the past couple of days, Liesel could tell her son was pushing himself a bit too hard. He tried hard to hide it, but he could never completely hide it from his mother's eyes.

"You are too young to have this on your shoulders..." She stroked his hair again, pushing a few stray hairs away from his face. "Much too young," she sighed. "Kurt... oh Kurt," she cried silently.

If only... Oh if only!

Liesel gave her son a gentle kiss before returning to bed. Perhaps if she talked with Kurt the next day... She could make things easier for her son.

* * *

It was early evening as Sadie stared into the fireplace. Matthias would be home soon, she thought as she glanced up over at the front door. She looked back into the fireplace, eyes concentrating on the small lump that was sitting at the very edge of the fire. She knew it was dangerous as a four-year old to be this close to the fire, but she didn't care. She wanted to try to do something. Her cousin was always working and doing things. So why couldn't she? She rested one of her now sooty hands on her face as she used other hand to use the poker to poke at the lump. Almost done. A small smile tugged at her lips. She would make Matthias proud. She'd show him she could do something again. Before his mother had become ill, she used to work at the factory with him. They had managed to get her in by lying and saying she was a just a small six-year old. It was hard work for the four-year old but at least she knew she could bring some money home too. She wiped some sweat off her face and stared at the fire once more. This wouldn't bring money to the house, but soon... soon it would. She would be able to help again.

"Sadie!"

She started, accidentally dropping the poker into the fire. "No!" she cried and grabbed the poker, forgetting about the heat.

"Ow!" she cried out again and blew hard onto her burnt hand.

"Sadie!"

She looked up in surprise to see her cousin by her side.

"Matthias!"

"Sadie! Don't get so close to the fire," he scolded as he pulled her away and looked at her hands. He tsked softly and picked her up, carrying her over to the sink to apply cold water on her burnt hand.

"Aw Matthias!" She scrunched up her face. "I was tryin' ta do somethin'."

He raised an eyebrow. "Tryin' ta hurt yourself?"

Sadie rolled her eyes and gave her cousin a weak push with her chubby arms. "No."

"Then what?" he asked as he set her back down on the ground.

"Makin' somethin'."

He furrowed his brow some. "Makin' what?"

She giggled some. "Come see!"

Matthias wasn't amused by his little cousin, but he decided to humor her despite that.

"See, see?" she said proudly holding out the now cooled lump from the edge of the fireplace.

"What is it?"

Sadie frown and pointed her chubby finger at an indention in the center of the lump. "Look!"

Her cousin's eyes widened some. "Sadie... How did you do that?!"

She gave him a smug grin. "Watched the blacksmith."

"Sadie!"

She looked up at Matthias innocently. "Whaaat? He's jus' down the street. I didn't get close to fire or nothin'."

"Still!" her cousin scolded, worry evident in his voice. "You could of gotten hurt!"

"Someone's hurt?" a voice asked a bit weakly.

"Ah... Mutti," Matthias murmured hurrying to the bedroom. "I'm comin'."

Sadie pursed her lips slightly and looked down at lump in her hands. She stared at the indention before running her finger along the edge.

She had made a key. Her very own key. It wasn't exactly the best made key... but it was her little key and it would somehow make money for their family.

But little did she know how it would make money for them for them one day.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hello guys! Finally got the second chapter up. Thank you sooo much for the reviews, followers, and favorites that I've gotten for this story so far. It's really given me such a boost of self-confidence in my writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)


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